Posted 4 years ago not as a trip report. To me, it seems to fit a TR description so I'll repost it here. Plus, I had fun reliving the memories this morning while rocking out with some coffee, watching my garden grow.

The pics are all posted by Clint. Cummins. Wish I had some on the route............

Here you go!

As posted:

Walleye, I climbed Mindahoonee with a buddy in 97. Great route. Some adventure for sure, but the climb overall was excellent in my book of wierdness.

What James was referring to was that Jake and I did Min-Ne-Ah. Just to the right of Yosemite Point Buttress. I had come out to Yos two years ago, out of shape and in need of a gun like Jake. He took the bait. As we were up on YPB we spied MNA, which from our vantage point looked beautiful and full of good cracks.

We pushed up YPB (my Dutch Lager busted in my camelback only after all the wide sh#t.!!) thinking about MNA. I talked Jake into doing it.

We took off super early and headed up the trail behind the stables, eventually reaching the Yosemite Point Couliar. We rapped into it, noticing that we could have scrambled out into it earlier. The mood instantly changed in the couliar.(sp?) It was cold and dark. It smelled different. It smelled like a cave. I stayed positive because, after all, Jake was going to get us up the thing.......right? He required a calming period. During which time I checked out the route as best I could. The first pitch was stellar looking!!!!! Fingers and hands. Cookie cliff good. Couldn't quite see the rest of the route, but I was positive.

Jake pepped up and won the flip for first lead.
Off he went shaking out his fear until realizing the climbing was awesome. He was happy again and ready for action. This climb is going to be splitter!!!!! Alright, my plan of getting a guide if necessary on Min-Ne-Ah was panning out. Jeez, at that point, with the approach I felt as though I had already done something substantial and the idea of a rope gun was more and more appealing.

I set off and did some jangy traverse right into grainy wideness that would end up characterizing the majority of the climb. Ropes end reached I set up a belay. Jake followed nicely and showed up realizing I may be off route. A small down traverse and he was back into the same grainy wideness, for a long way. I set off on even more wideness on the next pitch as well, but it soon turned into a memorable roofish move to 5.10 pumpfest. All hands to the anchor. I arrived torched. My lack of climbing for 6 months was catching up to me. Jake was only getting more into the groove and floating his way up.

Jake led us up another wideness pitch and I then led us up a moderate, wide pitch to the tops of the Rabbit Ears. Great hang, especially on a beautiful spring day as we had. The couliar curving down below. Lots of grainy and physical climbing to that point. Mostly wide and grainy. Going at Cosgrove/Shipley 5.8 or 9.

Looking up we saw simply ominous looking climbing. That giant roof at the top?! What on earth were we going to have to do to get through?

I set off on the first 11a pitch. I stemmed my way up grain past sh#t bolt to a good bolt to more SUPER SH#T BOLTS that appeared to be out of the rock by 1/4 or more of and inch out of the rock. They appeared to be origional aid bolts. Quite possibly placed well with erosion taking its toll around them. Well, they held my weight nontheless. I had had enough mentally at that point. A bulbousy lyback that was grainy as hell with those bolts defeated me. Reacehed the anchor above and humbly set my partial hanging belay below and extremely overhanging crack.
Jake fired up to me. Racked up and set forth on what has to be one of the best onsights I've witnessed and I've seen a few good ones.

To this point Jake was flawless. He made everything smooth. Even climbing that wasn't supposed to be so!!! This was different. White super grainy rock overhanging desperatly like a wave. he set forth and to our luck found good gear in the back of this absolute GRAINWAVE. He was showering me with so much rock I could have used that amount to gravel the average driveway. I could barely keep my eyes open enough to see him, but I had to. This performance was not to be missed. I had grain in my eyes for days.

Jakes dilemma was that he was at a spot that was quite hard. Very hard and stenuous. Cos/SHip 5.11D, grainy and full of mud and salad fixings. All the reason to call it and aid. Problem was the gear was as good as it gets, no matter what pitch you compare it to. It was solid in the back of that rattly offset think fingers thin hands crack.

He had no excuse. He had to go for it. Oh of which he did baby! The top of the crack is like a gaping v-slot. From my vantage point it looked as though it was over by then. Jake made noises i've never heard getting to that slot and once he started pullling into it I was full of joy and ease thinking he just sent the improbable. I threw words of encouragement and praise only to be interrupted with a shakey, yet very stearn, "Watch me BOB!!!!!!!!" I almost pissed myself.
He grunted through to the sloping ledge. I praised him. Laughing he said,"that's a pitch that 5.13 climbers barely onsighted when putting it up so they had to call it 5.11D".

I followed hanging multiple times and being totally blown away at how hard it remained up at the v-slot. IT was absolutely desperate, wet, full of veg in the back and had no gear at that point.

Next pitch was the bolt ladder. I relenquished my post and let The Gun take over. He walked up this 11c pitch littered with those bolts I spoke of before. It looked like 5.6. No kidding. He only paused long enough, half way to re-tie his shoe! But then he reached the slightly overhangingish wet, slimy ass crack ramp/squeeze thingy. He let out words of horror as he stood 40 feet above the last bolt, digging out moss, and rotten rock so he could get situated and not take a roaring ride of a tumbler. I remember feeling so fortunate not to be on lead at that point.
He got in the #6 and shimmed his way forth. I was probably sweating more than he.

Bobby J. was big walling at this point, supporting a mega free send by a buddie. Hand over hand and I was at the maw of a squeeze thingy. It was hard, wet and scary on TR.

Next I was off on some more wide, grainey sh#t that put me lying back a pinnacle of rock (or fin might be better) that "was breathing" as I yarded up it. Increased grain on the route at this point. Folks, this is saying a lot since the route was already bonified GRAINEY. We were in that really white rock. that would just fall apart.

Next Jake took off and a face traverse that was hard up to some more hard crack shtuff.
I was off after that up some wide sh#t, then cut it short because I just couldn't see what to do. I was done. My mind was just hanging on.

Has anyone here looked up right of YPB and seen the HUGE roof up high and right? There is a giant fin like feature that sticks out on the right end of it. Maybe this doesn't make sense. I had to try because the feature is SO COOL.
At the top of it all. Only two pitches left. Jake stepped left bridging this gap that is visible from the valley. Its very easy to see. What an ending. We could see the light and this move was exhilarating to say the least. We are tall and had very lttle trouble bridging the gap once our minds allowed us the privilage. Then.......yup, more wide ass grainy sh#t that was supposed to be 5.6, but was three letter grades harder. Last pitch was still wide grainy sh#t.

I forget how many pitches the climb was for us, but a lot I know for sure. We happily used a #6 Friend on all, but 1 pitch. I mean we were STOKED to have it. Very very much so.

An unbelieveable adventure this was. For both of us. Jake made it up without ever falling. We never had a lick of beta except looking over from YPB. We never talked to Coz and Ship is on another adventure. We couldn't find anyone who'd done it. It was truly impressive. I would never have been up there without that Mr. Whittaker.

Great job Cozgove/Shipley. Did you have any wide gear up there? Whoa! I would love to hear the story of that day sometime if you're ever up for it Scott.

Cheers to great adventures. Regardless of grain.

Bob j.

Credit: clint c.

Credit: clint c.

zoom in on crux area above "Rabbit Ears"

Credit: clint c.

Doubt I'll be having any kind of adventure like this soon. Maybe though!!!!! The cleanest line.

Here's a link with folks responding. I may have just made this all more confusing.....

who has time to take pictures on this type of adventure. classic. bob your writing is great, you know that don't you? thanks for an amusing read as i sit in mass, drinking my tea, waiting for the wind to dry out my mom's garden a little so i can get in there and plant.
j

Funny about Walt - I had always heard the stories about him on the lead, but never climbed with him until just before his death. He tagged along with a few of us SD climbers on a week long trip to the Sierra San Francisco in Baja - we were looking for new climbing in the many deep canyons that cut through the Sierra down there. Some of the largest cave paintings in the world are there, with Cueva Pintada being a 400 ft wide mural painted on the underside of a roof 30 ft off the ground.

Anyway, all we found to climb was overhanging sport stuff, and Walt wasn't that psyched about the climbing, but we had a great time on the exploring and hanging out level. We did do a few routes, but the thing I remember most about Walt when we were climbing was that he insisted on doubling up new 1 inch tubular webbing on the anchors for redundancy - something I had never worried about. He seemed overly concerned about dying.

When we got back to San Diego, he and I had a great day climbing here in an awesome wild canyon full of perfect rock. A couple months later he perished, RIP.

Don't mean to sidetrack a great thread - just a few thoughts about Walt...